Oregon Travels, Part I: Kiyokawa Family Orchards

Posted on by Leave a comment
Randy Kiyokawa at his Kiyokawa Family Orchards.
Randy Kiyokawa at his Kiyokawa Family Orchards.

Parkdale, OR — As a kid, Randy Kiyokawa dreamed of becoming either a police officer or a DJ, professions he knows couldn’t have been more different from one another.

But as Kiyokawa grew to learn, familial expectations have a way of steering one’s path in life. As his parents’ youngest child and only son, he knew deep down that his destiny likely would entail succeeding them in overseeing the family fruit farm, one of the few remaining Hood River Valley farms owned by Japanese American families who returned here following their internment during World War II.

Planted with 157 acres of fruit trees, including more varieties of apples than probably any other farm in the valley, Kiyokawa Family Orchards is a testament to perseverance and adaptation.

Thankfully, its legacy will continue now that Kiyokawa, on the brink of turning 64, is poised to turn the farm’s operations over to the fourth generation — his daughter.

Last month, I had a chance to visit the farm. Though it hadn’t yet opened to the public for the season, work was still happening, most notably on the small homes on site. He provides free housing to his 40 employees

His farm boasts a stunning view of Mount Hood.
His farm boasts a stunning view of Mount Hood.

Kiyokawa walked me around the property, where blossoms were just starting to appear on Bosc, Comice, and Anjou pear trees. He also grows peaches, plums, and baby kiwi. In a nod to his wife’s heritage, he also planted Persian plums and sour cherries.

It’s apples, though, for which his farm is best known — 125 varieties in all.

Read more

Prime Time for Asparagus with Cannellini Beans, Creamy Tarragon Vinaigrette & Pickled Mustard Seeds

Posted on by Leave a comment
Jazz up your asparagus game with a perfect cooking technique, plus flavorful garnishes.
Jazz up your asparagus game with a perfect cooking technique, plus flavorful garnishes.

When it comes to asparagus, I typically prefer grilling or roasting whole spears because the high heat caramelizes them, bringing their natural sweetness to the forefront.

But Katie Reicher, executive chef of pioneering Greens Restaurant in San Francisco, has taught me another method, one with impeccable timing that renders the spears yielding yet not droopy, and tender but with still a little bite.

Her way is pan-steaming, complete with a genius move — blitzing the tough asparagus ends that are usually discarded with a little water in a blender instead to create the cooking liquid. It gets poured into a ripping hot pan with the asparagus, where it steams and simmers before evaporating and leaving them perfectly done.

Not only are you not wasting any part of the pricey asparagus this way, but you’re imparting more flavor, too.

Read more

Late-Night Fried Chicken at Michelin-Starred Ssal

Posted on by Leave a comment
Behold the glorious, late-night fried chicken at Ssal.
Behold the glorious, late-night fried chicken at Ssal.

There are times when fried chicken means a napkin tucked into your collar and Wet Ones at the ready as you dig your hand into a cardboard bucket of the stuff.

But there are other times when fried chicken is savored in a chic minimalist dining room with mood lighting, a glass of French Champagne, and a tin of osetra caviar with a mother-of-pearl spoon to complete the picture.

If an elevated fried chicken dinner, one with Korean flourishes, is what you crave, Michelin-starred Ssal in San Francisco has now got you covered.

Chef-Owner Junsoo Bae.
Chef-Owner Junsoo Bae.

Your appetite just has to hold out until after its usual tasting menu service concludes and its yasik or Korean late-night eating culture menu takes over afterwards on weeknights. Although in South Korea that usually means midnight, you won’t have to wait quite that long here, but just until about 9 p.m. or 9:30 p.m.

Read more

Get Saucy — No Matter Your Dietary Restrictions

Posted on by 2 comments
I used Get Saucy's Tikka Masala on shrimp and asparagus.
I used Get Saucy’s Tikka Masala on shrimp and asparagus.

After being diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease in 2018, Brian Bentow went on a low-inflammation elimination diet and became symptom-free without the need for medication.

However, he began to miss certain favorite foods, especially ones with global flavors. So he joined with Chef Suhan Lee, a Marine veteran who went to culinary school after he developed IBS symptoms following antibiotic treatments when he was injured in Iraq.

Together, they have created Get Saucy, a ready-to-cook line of sauces made with organic and non-GMO ingredients. Free of the top nine allergens (milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame), Get Saucy follows in accordance with paleo, autoimmune protocol, low inflammation, and gluten-free diets.

While a number of sauces are in the pipeline, the first one to debut is Tikka Masala, which is available in a three-pack of 16-ounce jars on the Get Saucy website for $45. I had a chance to try a sample recently.

Read more

Rah-Rah for Rhubarb Brownies

Posted on by Leave a comment
An easy rhubarb jam gets folded into the batter for these rich chocolate brownies.
An easy rhubarb jam gets folded into the batter for these rich chocolate brownies.

Resembling mutant celery and smelling rather strangely green and vegetative, rhubarb hasn’t necessarily been a favored springtime pick for me.

If given the choice, I’d much rather reach for strawberries instead.

But a recipe for “Rhubarb Brownies” captured my fancy enough to want to place a bunch in my grocery basket.

The recipe is from the new cookbook, “Coastal” (Chronicle Books), of which I received a review copy.

It was written by Chef Scott Clark of Dad’s Luncheonette in Half Moon Bay, with assistance from James Beard Award-winning food journalist Betsy Andrews, who is a contributing editor at Food & Wine magazine.

If you’ve had the pleasure of visiting Dad’s Luncheonette, you know that it’s the cutest little cafe that operates out of a permanently parked, historic train caboose.

Read more
« Older Entries